I don’t think that Lee Dixon meant that the Arsenal players should be shot when he said “We had our backs against the wall”, but it would appear that Arsene Wenger has misinterpreted his statement (deliberately or not) and has responded by saying that that is not the only way to motivate the players for the crucial match against Tottenham tomorrow.
“Lee Dixon is a passionate guy, so in his response he is passionate as well,” Wenger said. “I think if that was the only way to feel football games, you would say, ‘If you don’t win the game, you are killed after it. You are executed.’
“That shows you that putting people up against the wall is not the only way. That’s why it’s so difficult to win a game.
“It’s a mixture between urgency and confidence, relaxed and tense, and that is different for every individual. Different for every team as well.
“You have to adapt your speech to the mental state of the team and the individual.
“They are the kind of remarks I’ve had for 20 years. I remember many people questioned me in 2002 and 2003 if (Robert) Pires will be tough enough to play in the derby.
“This guy has scored more goals than anybody in the derby. At the end of the day, it’s down to the quality of the game.”
That reply may have been tongue-in-cheek, but if you can imagine a minute what the response will be on justarsenal if we DID lose, there will probably be a lot of readers calling for Wenger’s head and saying that the players really should be shot! There will certainly be a few character assassinations aimed at whoever we feel is responsible for the defeat lol.
But why should we even worry when we know we never lose to Tottenham at the Emirates?
Sam P.